A final round of public consultation has been launched on plans to restart mineral processing at the Hemerdon Tungsten Mine.
The Environment Agency has opened a third and final round of Hemerdon Mine consultation on a permit application by Drakelands Restoration Limited. Two consultations on this proposal have already taken place enabling the Environment Agency to consider all of the comments made by organisations and members of the public alongside all of the evidence given by the operator.
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The Environment Agency say that they have not been presented with any evidence to indicate that the proposal will result in significant human or environmental harm.
A statement by the Environment Agency said:
“We now think we are in a position where we can grant the permit. However, we will not make this final decision until after this final round of consultation, taking into account any new information we may receive.
“So far, the permit application has been technically assessed by experienced specialist officers in our National Permitting Service, as well as noise and other experts in our national and local teams. In doing so, we have also consulted with a wide number of other organisations.
“We have assessed various issues of concern, including measures to manage low frequency noise, something that had been an issue at the Hemerdon site when operated by the previous operator, Wolf Mineral Ltd.
“We have also checked the new operator’s plans to prevent, control and monitor issues such as audible noise, dust and other particulate emissions, so that operations on site will not have any significant impact on people and the environment nearby.”
In this latest Hemerdon Mine consultation, the Environment Agency have published present two key documents, a Draft Decision Document and a Draft Permit. The two documents make it clear what has already been considered and will help the public and other organisations to identify if there are any other important issues that they would like to be considered.
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The permitting process does not take into account factors such as off-site vehicle movements, operating hours, visual impact and whether this is an appropriate location for this activity. These are dealt with by the local planning authority.
Anyone who would like to provide any new information or make and new comments, should submit them by May 7. Comments can be made at the online Citizen Space web page: https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/psc/pl7-5bw-drakelands-restoration-limited2/
